More medals for NSWIS athletes

Two NSWIS athletes claimed medals on day six of Olympic competition, with Jessica Fox winning canoe slalom silver, and Kaarle McCulloch winning cycling bronze.

Fox’s silver medal came in the women’s K1 event where she posted a score of 106.51 points, a narrow 0.61 points outside the gold medal score. Fox entered the final as the eighth fastest qualifier, but showed maturity well beyond her 18 years to secure silver at her debut Games. Fox’s mother and coach, Myriam, won bronze in the same event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

McCulloch then followed on from Fox’s success by taking bronze in the women’s team sprint with compatriot Anna Meares. After a solid 32.825 second ride the in the qualifiers, the team’s time of 32.806 seconds in the first round saw them move into the bronze medal race. From there they were never challenged by Ukraine, posting a 32.727 ride to win bronze.

The medal results were complemented by NSWIS rowers at Eton Dorney, who performed strongly on day six. Tess Gerrand and the Australian women’s eight crew finished sixth in their final, while fellow NSWIS athletes James Chapman and Bronwen Watson progressed through to the Saturday’s finals of the men’s four and women’s lightweight double scull, respectively.

Elsewhere, the Australian women’s hockey team, featuring six NSWIS athletes, continued their strong form with a 1-0 victory over USA; the Australian men’s basketball team, including NSWIS athlete Aleks Maric, defeated China 81-61, while seven NSWIS athletes suffered a tough 9-13 to Spain as part of the Australian men’s water polo team.

In swimming, Eamon Sullivan progressed through to the final of the men’s 50m freestyle while James Magnussen was eliminated, and Jayden Hadler finished seventh in his heat of the men’s 100m butterfly, the same result for youngster and training partner Jess Ashwood in the women’s 800m freestyle.

The individual and team dressage event kicked off at Greenwich Park on day six, with NSWIS athlete Lyndal Oatley in 15th place overall, and Australia fourth, and the sailors continued to shine in Weymouth. Olivia Price, Nina Curtis and Lucinda Whitty continued their undefeated streak in the women’s match racing to be first overall; Jessica Crisp moved up the RS:X leaderboard to be 12th overall, and Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen maintained their spot at the top of the men’s 49er standings. Fellow NSWIS athlete Malcolm Page began his men’s 470 class title defence, and is fifth after the first two races.

The medal chances continue on day seven of competition, with four NSWIS athletes seeking gold. Sullivan takes on the men’s 50m freestyle; rowers Dan Noonan and Brooke Pratley line up in the men’s quad scull and women’s double scull, respectively, and shooter Warren Potent takes aim at the medals in the men’s 50m prone rifle.